Selene saw him as she passed overhead and fell deeply in love. If you have read Greek mythology and the famous epics of ancient Greece, you may be quite familiar with her brother Helios. Lastly, Selene was said to be the mother of the legendary Greek poet Musaeus,[50] with, according to Philochorus, the father being the legendary seer Eumolpus.[51]. The bull panicked, threw Ampelus and gored him to death. Her Roman equivalent is Luna. The cave in Anatolia where Endymion was said to sleep became a holy place for Selene. In this case, the story of Selene embracing Endymion, or Moon embraces Diver, refers to the sun setting and the moon rising. Helius, Selene, Eos, Atlas, Prometheus, Pandora, Nike, Boreas, Zephyrus, Astra) GREEK VASE PAINTINGS GALLERY 8 (83 IMAGES) According to the Catalogue of Women, Endymion was the son of Aethlius (a son of Zeus), and Zeus granted him the right to choose when he would die. Deciphering the Role of Helios, the Sun God of Greek Mythology. Pandia Usually said to be the daughter of Selene and Zeus, Pandia was also sometimes given as another name for Selene herself. She walked as quietly as possible to avoid frightening Endymion as he slept. [72] A scholiast on Apollonius says that, according to Epimenides, Endymion fell in love with Hera, and Zeus punished him with eternal sleep. Selene - or Luna as the Romans called her - is the goddess of the moon, driving a horse-drawn chariot across the night sky. In Greek literature, Eos is presented as a daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, the sister of the sun god Helios and the moon goddess Selene. And if Selene and Helios did not work together, as the personifications of the moon and the sun, there would be absolute chaos in the world. Mitchell, Lucy M., "Sculptures of the Great Pergamon Altar" in The Century Magazine, 1883. In some versions of the story, the goddess abandoned her duty and left the night sky so she could be with the man she loved. The concept of Selene as the lunar goddess also made her an important goddess of childbirth and female fertility. Her list of powers are unmatched, as far as lunar goddesses go. Only a handful of religious centers of Selene are known from the ancient world. At night he drove below the edge of the world in the west, circling below Gaia to reappear on the eastern horizon by morning. [125] An oracular sanctuary existed near Thalamai in Laconia. This she shared with her siblings and other goddesses like Nyx. To cite this article in an academic-style article or paper, use: Rittika Dhar, "Selene: The Titan and Greek Goddess of the Moon", History Cooperative, September 20, 2022, https://historycooperative.org/selene-greek-goddess-of-the-moon/. Several lovers are attributed to her in various myths, including Zeus, Pan, and the mortal Endymion. Her father was the Titan god of heavenly light, while her mother represented the blue color of the sky. Ceto - Goddess of the Water. And a memorial of her couch abides still neath the oaks; for mid the copses round was poured out milk of kine; and still do men marvelling behold its whiteness. [4] Here she is represented as a radiant goddess, wearing a crown and beautiful robes and riding a horse-drawn chariot across the night sky: From her immortal head a radiance is shown from heaven and embraces earth; and great is the beauty that ariseth from her shining light. [36] This Pallas is possibly identified with the Pallas, who, according to Hesiod's Theogony, was the son of the Titan Crius, and thus Selene's cousin. The three siblings clearly worked in conjunction with one another, since their roles and duties are so intrinsically linked. The moon was also believed to bring the night dew that nourished the plants and to bring sleep and rest to humankind. [95], Anaxagoras also reports that the Nemean lion was said to have fallen from the moon. Most mythologists assumed that Selene was an older moon goddess that was replaced later by Artemis in myth. [103], In Lucian's Icaromenippus, Selene complains to the titular Menippus of all the outrageous claims philosophers are making about her, such as wondering why she is ever waxing or gibbous, whether she is populated or not, and stating that she is getting her stolen light from the Sun, causing strife and ill feelings between her and her brother. [104] Zeus agrees, urged by Selene's complaints and having long intended to deal with the philosophers himself. The sky was dark at night and the sun more lethargic than usual. [102], Plutarch recorded a fable-like story in which Selene asked her mother to weave her a garment to fit her measure, and her mother replied that she was unable to do so, as she kept changing shape and size, sometimes full, then crescent-shaped and others yet half her size. Selene then turned Lilaeus into a mountain, Mt. Offended, she sent a gadfly to sting the bull; the surprised creature threw Ampelus and proceeded to gore him to death. If you thought Artemis was the Greek goddess of the moon, you are only partially right. Selene was the ancient Greek Titan goddess of the moon. [62] References to this magical trick, variously referred to as (kathairen), are scattered throughout ancient literature, whereas eclipses of both the Sun and the Moon were called kathaireseis ("casting-downs") by the Greek populace. Mythopedia. Seneca, Madness of Hercules 83; Hyginus, Fabulae 30; Aelian, On Animals 12.7 (citing Epimenides); etc. Zeus heard of that, and ordered Selene as well as her siblings Helios (Sun) and Eos (Dawn) not to shine, and harvested all of that plant for himself. But the Greek cult of Selene grew more and more prevalent towards the end of the Hellenistic period (32331 BCE). This was known as the Gigantomachy. In some cases, it is debated whether she indeed was the mother. Privacy Policy. Selene fought back the giant, locking horns with Typhon; afterwards, she carried many scars on her orb, reminiscent of their battle. The goddess of the hunt became associated with the moon and lunar cycles. [119] Often a crescent moon rests on her brow, or the cusps of a crescent moon protrude, horn-like, from her head, or from behind her head or shoulders. The first depictions of Selenes moon chariot goes back to the early 5th century BCE. So she is a sure token and a sign to mortal men. How old is the United States of America? [144] And, according to a scholium on Theocritus, Pindar wrote that lovesick women would pray to Selene for help, as Euripides apparently had Phaedra, Selene's great-niece, do in his lost play Hippolytus Veiled. Rheinisches Museum Fr Philologie, vol. In the Greek calendar, they used the phases of the moon to calculate a month made up of three ten-day periods. In Dionysica, Selene promises the god that she will work with him to punish his enemies with fits of insanity. Helios was one of the Titans, son of Hyperion and Theia and brother of Eos (the Dawn) and Selene (the Moon ). In many cases it rested on her brow or jutted out on either side of her head like a crown or horns. "[139] Roman philosopher Cicero connected Selene's Roman counterpart Luna's name to childbirth goddess Lucina's, both deriving from "light" (thus bringing the unborn child into the light). [16][18], Although attempts have been made to connect Selene to Helene due to the similarity of their names, in two early dedications to Helen from Laconia her name is spelled with a digamma (Ancient Greek: , romanized:Welna), ruling out any possible connection between them. Selene and Endymion, fresco on ceiling by Giuseppe Antonio Orelli, circa 1730-1770, Palazzo Riva. There were still several goddesses who shared Selenes lunar domain, however. Occasionally Selenes chariot was pulled by oxen or bulls, again differentiating it from the faster vehicle of her brother. Attic red-figure kylix showing Selene riding the chariot of the moon, drawn by two winged horses. The Homeric Hymn 31 sings praises to all the children of Hyperion, referring to Eos as rosy armed Eos and to Helios as tireless Helios.. Selene was the Greek goddess of the moon. [90], When Zeus desired to sleep with the mortal queen Alcmene and sire Heracles, he made the night last three days, and ordered Selene via Hermes to dawdle in the sky during that time. In some later accounts, she is known as the Horned Selene, perhaps due to the crescent moon upon the crown of her head. Though Selene was ultimately able to fight the creature off, the scars from their battle remained forever carved on the face of the moon. Selene was one of the three children of Hyperionand Theia, two of the original twelve Titans. [123], Moon figures are found on Cretan rings and gems (perhaps indicating a Minoan moon cult), but apart from the role played by the moon itself in magic, folklore, and poetry, and despite the later worship of the Phrygian moon-god Men, there was relatively little worship of Selene. Some nymphs in Greek mythology were famous, but others were only known in a certain time Apollo: The God of Music, Poetry, and Light, Hecate Greek Goddess of Witchcraft : The Complete Guide. [118], Selene is commonly depicted with a crescent moon, often accompanied by stars; sometimes, instead of a crescent, a lunar disc is used. Homeric Hymn 4.99100. With Zeus she is the mother of Pandeia goddess of dew. Though Selene almost never appears in modern adaptations of Greek mythology, she is nonetheless present in pop culture as the personification of the moon. All Rights Reserved. https://mythopedia.com/topics/selene, Avi Kapach is a writer, scholar, and educator who received his PhD in Classics from Brown University. [55] The geographer Pausanias, reports seeing a relief of Selene driving a single horse, as it seemed to him, or as some said, a mule, on the pedestal of the Statue of Zeus at Olympia (c. 435 BC). [158] HMS Selene (P254), a 1944 British submarine and Ghia Selene, a concept car from the Ghia design studio from 1959, also bore her name. With his sister, the Titaness Theia, Hyperion fathered Helios (the Sun), Selene (the Moon) and Eos (the Dawn).. Hyperion was, along with his son Helios, a personification of the sun, with the two sometimes . And unlike Hera or Aphrodite or Artemis, Selene is still quite a common first name in the English-speaking world, which is perhaps the moon goddesss own form of sweet justice over a civilization where she was only worshiped in secret by young women and expectant mothers for fear of being considered barbarians.. 2. The light that humans saw from earth emanate from them, a legacy of their lustrous father. [37] Other accounts give still other parents for Selene: Euripides has Selene as the daughter of Helios (rather than sister),[38] while an Aeschylus fragment possibly has Selene as the daughter of Leto,[39] as does a scholium on Euripides's play The Phoenician Women which adds Zeus as the father. This article was most recently revised and updated by, From Athena to Zeus: Basics of Greek Mythology, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Selene-Greek-and-Roman-mythology, Ancient Origins - Celestial Goddess Selene: The Ancient Greek Goddess of the Moon. And now thou thyself too hast part in a like mad passion; and some god of affliction has given thee Jason to be thy grievous woe. There were other goddesses worshiped by the Greeks who were widely associated with the moon themselves. In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Selene ( / slini /; Greek: pronounced [seln], meaning "Moon" [2]) is the personification of the Moon. She is pale, beautiful and indefinably alluring. The Greek word Phoebe means bright and the word Cynthia means from Mount Cynthus which was said to be the birthplace of Artemis. Selene - Mythology. As the most important and visible features in the sky, the people of ancient Greece thought that Selene, goddess of the moon, and her brother Helios, god of the sun, were the ones responsible for the movement of the two celestial bodies across the sky. Lunacy takes its name from Selenes Roman counterpart, Luna. 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